Singapore Airlines has announced the appointment of Mohamed Rafi Mar as general manager for the United Kingdom and Ireland.

Mar replaces Sheldon Hee, who has been posted back to head office in Singapore, having held the role since 2016.

Mar will be based at the Singapore Airlines London office in Chiswick and brings with him an array of experience from the aviation and travel industry.

He arrives from Singapore where, most recently, he has held the posts of vice president cargo sales and marketing and vice president commercial, SilkAir.

During his time, the integration of regional subsidiary SilkAir into Singapore Airlines was being planned, and is now being implemented.

In his 27-year Singapore Airlines career to date, Mar has held positions in a variety of disciplines across Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

There are a number of immediate tasks that will be keeping Mar busy in his new role, not least due to the current global pandemic.

Singapore Airlines’ London Heathrow-Singapore passenger and cargo flights have continued throughout but planning for ongoing careful expansion of these services continues.

Likewise, planning is ongoing for the eventual relaunch of Manchester services.

The UK team comprises around 100 employees, of which 12 report directly to the general manager role, while Mar will himself report to regional vice president Europe, Sek Eng Lee.

Mar commented: “I look forward to continuing to champion the UK as a prominent destination within the expansive Singapore Airlines network and to ensuring we contribute strongly to the UK and its renowned aviation sector as a whole.”